Experimental Identification of Bearing Dynamic Force Coefficients in A Flexible Rotor—Further Developments

Bearing force coefficients are a necessary component in the analysis of linear stability and response of rotating dynamic systems. Often, these bearing parameters are predicted using limited or restrictive flow models, or operating conditions in the actual machine differ largely from the assumed conditions during the analysis. In these instances, the identification of actual support properties represents a means to verify the rotordynamic predictions. The current work presents an identification procedure that is suitable for implementation in the field and that relies on measurements of rotor synchronous response to calibrated imbalance. The method is extended to the typical case when the displacement measurements occur away from the bearing locations in flexible rotor systems. Measurements and identification are performed on a test rotor supported on a pair of identical two-lobe fluid film bearings and for increasing values of imbalance over a speed range from 1,000 to 4,000 rpm. Identification using increased imbalances reveals the linear region of response in which the procedure renders reliable results. Also, a signal noise study shows that the method is robust to random external disturbances with a noise-to-signal ratio of up to 10%. Presented at the STLE Annual Meeting, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Review led by Waldek Dmochowski